How to Create a Payment Link to Easily Charge your Clients

Nowadays payment links are used by almost every company that works online. Why? Because payment links allow customers and sellers to pay and receive money in a convenient, fast, secure, and easily manageable way.

Of course, there are multiple ways to collect money from customers or business clients but the core idea is to facilitate the whole process as much as possible.

Sharing bank details in emails is considered archaic. Even if you pay by bank transfer, payment links allow you to automate the whole process of communicating the price, getting paid, and issuing an invoice.

The purpose of this article is to introduce you to the world of payment links. We will explore how to create a payment link and explain what you need to do before you start receiving payments online.

Let’s cover the basics of payment processing

Initially, it might be a struggle for new entrepreneurs to get a good grasp of how online payments function. That’s because of terminology, security measures, and complicated banking processes.

But we are here to explain.

If your business sells goods or services on the Internet, then you are an e-commerce merchant who needs to open a merchant account at an acquiring bank. This account will allow you to accept credit and debit card payments from clients and start selling.

You may already know that there are various card associations (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, iDEAL), acquiring banks are registered members of those card networks. These banks accept the payments and forward them to the merchant account.

The issuing banks, on the other hand, are the financial institutions responsible for checking the card holder’s ability to pay. They authorize payment requests or decline them if the shopper doesn’t have enough money.

To put it simply, the payment processors are the companies that mediate between merchants, card networks, banks, and other parties to complete card payments. They do so by employing a payment gateway.

How does a payment gateway work?

Payment gateways are software and servers that encrypt and transmit information to acquiring banks and collect responses from issuing banks.

The purpose of that software is to protect your personal data and facilitate communication between financial institutions.

The merchant needs to use Payment Service Providers (PSP) in order to gain access to payment processors and gateways. Usually, for this kind of services merchants are charged a fee for each transaction.

PSP is in partnership with acquiring banks and offers features such as fraud protection, processing of different currencies, and translation of different languages.

The Payment Service Provider sends via the payment gateway the transaction information, initiated by the shopper, to a payment processor used by the merchant’s acquiring bank.

All of this is made possible thanks to the regulations and standards organized by credit card associations.

Now, how to create a payment link?

Payment links could be generated by Payment Service Providers and are seen as a ‘pay now’ button.

Once your customers confirm their purchase, you can send them the payment link on their email or other messaging apps.

Upon clicking on the link, the shopper will be redirected to their preferred payment processor and finalize the transaction.

Payment links make the whole process a lot easier since you can accept payments 24/7 and your clients can pay however and wherever they want.

Also, the payment paperwork is significantly reduced meanwhile there are online records that are always at your disposal.

If you are wondering how to create a payment link, Payment Service Providers allow you to do so and collect payments from customers. However, there are a few things you need to consider before choosing a PSP for your online business.

Payment processors and different services that can help with creating payment links

As I already mentioned, there are various card associations (aka payment methods). You need to consider the countries in which your business operates and their preferred payment methods – Visa, MasterCard, iDEAL, etc. Make sure that your PSP supports them.

Speaking of different countries, some of them might have different currencies as well. Take a look at whether the payment provider offers clients to pay in their own currency. Alternatively, you may expect a lot of cost in terms of currency exchange rates.

In relation to this, remember to check the settlement currency because it would be best for you if the payment provider wires your money in different currencies rather than converting them.

A 3-D secure system is also a feature that you might find useful at times. It reduces the risk of fraudulent transactions and decreases the number of disputed transactions. In the European Union, 3-D verification is required.

Application Providing Interface (API) is another crucial service that your payment provider should be offering. Through an API you can easily automate your own system to create payment links, which are then settled by the payment provider.

Finally, the most important thing you should be aware of is whether your PSP is PCI compliant. In other words, are they regulated, and are their methods safe for collecting money from clients?

Here are some examples of Payment Service Providers that are well-established on the market:

PayPal

There is no way you haven’t heard of or used PayPal. It is the most used payment provider worldwide because the platform offers merchants all the tools needed to set up a secure payment gateway for customers.

Its services could be beneficial to small to medium businesses as well as to enterprises.

One of the main advantages of PayPal is the PayPal link generator that accepts both credit and debit cards and offers the option of buying now and paying later. Through their PayPal Credit financing, you get paid right away while your clients receive a loan with no interest that can be paid off later.

However, the platform might be a bit pricey for small home-based businesses. They charge 3.49% plus $0.49 per transaction (as of August 2021).

Stripe

Stripe is another popular option that is specifically designed to make your business grow. Stripe is one of the fastest-growing players on the FinTech landscape and has completely disrupted the financial industry.

We, at 3veta, are Verified Stripe Partners. We use Stripe payment links to support global transaction methods, adapt to the customer’s language and device, and integrate with other platforms.

You will be able not only to get paid online and track payments but also decrease fraud via their machine learning models and employ the best techniques to avoid lost revenue due to declined transactions.

Your consultancy business might also benefit from Stripe’s recurring payment features and customizable checkouts.

The price depends on the card provider and is 1.4$ + $0.30 per transaction for European cards or 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction for US cards.

Square

Square is quite useful for businesses that are eager to digitize their services because, among its many other features, it also allows users to create a website and start selling online without any prior knowledge in programming.

Square is the go-to payment processor for physical stores in the US. However, they are quite big in the digital space, too. The company promotes fast and easy checkout services as a way to receive online payments through Apple Pay or Google Pay.

You can also modify the formats – payment links, buy buttons, QR codes, whatever works best for your business.

You can track payments and shipments without forcing your clients to create an account or download a specific app to pay.

This Payment Service Provider is worth 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.

Google Pay & Apple Pay

Google Pay and Apple Pay services offer secure ways to collect money in a matter of a few clicks. These two platforms have proven to be reliable and quite easy to navigate.

No need to make your customers look around for their credit or debit card, the checkout process is way simpler since a payment button is integrated into websites and other platforms.

Furthermore, data is well-secured because every transaction requires Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode ensuring that you can collect payment without worrying about fraudulent transactions.

Not to mention that your company won’t receive the customer’s actual card numbers, meaning that you won’t be handling sensitive information in your systems.

Both Google and Apple Pay don’t charge any fees. Merchants only pay transaction fees as usual with credit/ debit sales.

To sum it up

There are many different ways of getting paid and one should consider them all in order to find the most suitable one for their business.

Although the question of how to accept payments might seem complicated at first, we hope that in this article we’ve provided you with one possible answer à by integrating payment links.

For instance, virtual nannies might have a different approach to charging clients compared to independent consultants but they could both benefit from receiving payment online via links.

Furthermore, online health coaches might find it useful to place a payment link on their website to make payments easier for their clients.

Whichever method you choose to employ and whatever platform you decide to use, don’t forget that a happily paid customer means more revenue for you.